PLANTS ON THE MOVE 197 



what it wants, and leaves the rest to grow into a 

 new plant. For the same reason they do the 

 often far heavier pantechnicon work of the snow- 

 drops and chionodoxas of the garden, of the violets 

 and periwinkles, cow-wheats, pansies, Canterbury 

 bells, and many others. 



The meadow saffron is the abomination of the 

 farmer for the bad effects that it has on his cows. 

 He will go to a good deal of expense to get rid of 

 it, but it usually manages to make one or two 

 successful blossoms, and has at least one good way 

 of getting from one field to another. When it 

 sends up its ovary to the field surface and opens 

 it, the seed within is sticky as mistletoe, and if a cow 

 tread on it she carries about with her the germ 

 that may become a plant that shall be her own 

 or her daughter's undoing. The greatest blossom 

 in the world, the Rafflesia, which has no leaves, 

 only a parasite root, but a blossom eighteen 

 inches across, gets its seed-carrying done by 

 elephants. Says Mr. G. F. Scott Elliot, quoting 

 Goeze : ' When the huge flower decays, it forms 

 a sticky pulpy mass like broth and full of seeds. 

 An elephant strolling through the forest will step 

 in it, and will, of course, naturally scrape its feet 

 against the next conveniently projecting Cissus 

 root which it happens to encounter.' The Cissus 

 root is the actual place whereon the Rafflesia is 

 designed to grow. Thus, the elephant performs 

 for Rafflesia the same duty that the mistle-thrush 

 performs for our mistletoe. 



